Smoked Rainbow Trout - Chef Recipe by Donovan Cooke

Ingredients

2 trout (350g each)
1 piece of celeriac
300g barley
100g cream
50g butter
1 bunch shallots (chopped)
1/4 bunch chives (chopped)
2 pieces lemon
100g rock salt
62g sugar
750mL water
1/4 bunch thyme (picked)
300mL chicken stock
20mL truffle oil
10g truffle (optional)
Sherry vinegar to taste

Method

Barley:

Place barley in boiling water with salt in a pot. Once cooked, strain 1/3 off barley and put it aside to rest.

Keep cooking what is left in the pot until extremely soft, then strain and rinse with cold water.

Let dry in the fridge uncovered (ideally overnight).

Deep fry at 200 C, salt and put aside (make sure to deep fry when completely dry).

Smoked Trout:

Fillet and pin bone trout. Salt for 20 minutes, cold smoke for 30 minutes, put in a vacuum pack bag and seal.
Place in a water bath at 58 C for four minutes. Rest.

Celeriac:

Divide into three parts.

For the fondant, slice 1cm piece and cut into a circle. Put in a vacuum pack with truffle oil, thyme and salt to taste. Place in a water bath for 30 minutes at 85 C.

Dice 1cm pieces of celeriac and fry at 180 C until golden.

Use all the chopped trimmings of the celeriac. Sweat off in a pan with butter and cover with a lid until soft. Add cream, bring to the boil and puree.

Preserved Lemon:

Bring water, rock salt and sugar to boil. Add lemon and simmer for five minutes, press down into the liquid. Preserve for a week to three months.

Dressing:

Pour chicken stock into a pot, reduce by 2/3, add chopped truffle while reducing (optional). Let cool to room temperature, then mix with hand blender, adding truffle oil slowly. Finish with sherry vinegar to taste.

Salad:

Mix fried barley, blanched barley, chopped shallots and chives, deep fried celeriac and preserved lemon.

Season with salt, truffle oil and lemon juice.